After showing LeAnne the scenic Washington lake, we proceeded right up the east face, ignoring the logical east ridge, silly me! We wound up in a really steep soft dirt and rock yucky place, in which I did some grambling (a combination of grumbling and scrambling) and stopped often for pictures and chocolate and air, then proceeded across to the south ridge where we found easy going to the summit. What a view! Then we scampered down the north ridge which plops you down right into the front seat of your car at the campground. A very pretty mountain in a fantastic location.

Climbed the northwest ridge on a crisp and beautiful morning. Great views of Blackman, DO Lee, Patterson, and Castle (of course). It was the first of 6 peaks we summitted on our way from Fourth of July Trailhead to Three Cabins Creek. Looks like you could also ascend from Washington Lake pretty easily.

I climbed this just prior to the fires in 2005 from the Washington lake area. The views to the south/southwest are especially nice. There are some interesting uplifted strata as the mountains start to transition toward the northern Boulders. Oh, and I saw a bear above the treeline. I came off the ridge and scared the crap out of him! (I was a bit startled myself).

Climbed after the first snowfall of the season just after they re-opened the area from the fire. Saw flames still burning on my way up and smell was intoxicating. It was worth as the eerie beauty was unparalleled to anything else I've seen. Otherwise, scenic and short scramble for those in the area!

"Got tight last night on absinthe and did knife tricks. Great success shooting the knife into the piano. The woodworms are so bad and eat hell out of all furniture that you can always claim the woodworms did it."
--Ernest Hemingway